New Jersey Says “Super Lawyers” is Super Misleading

New Jersey’s Committee on Attorney Advertising ruled this week that lawyer advertising in a publication called New Jersey Super Lawyers violates state rules of professional conduct. The publisher plans to contest the decision. (Read it here.)

New Jersey is the first state to rule that advertising in “Super Lawyers” — which publishes different editions in 21 states — violates professional conduct rules. The Garden State prohibits lawyer advertisements that either are comparative in nature or would create unjustified expectations, and the “Super Lawyer” designation could give consumers a false impression, the committee said. The committee, which is appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court, also wrote: “Participation in a survey of this type, where an attorney knows or reasonably should know that the survey would lead to a descriptive label that is inherently comparative such as ‘Super Lawyer’ is inappropriate.”

Coincidentally, earlier this week a glossy magazine slipped out of our New York Times called New York Super Lawyers: The Essential Guide to the Top Attorneys in Manhattan. It’s the NYC version of Super Lawyers. In addition to a list of “Super Lawyers,” the publication has original editorial content. Super Lawyers is an clearly labeled advertising supplement published by Minneapolis-based publisher Law & Politics, a division of Key Professional Media.

The New Jersey committee had problems with the methodology the publication uses to award the Super Lawyer designation. First, said the committee, the publication doesn’t provide enough detail on its methodology available. Second, the committee wrote, “A careful review of the selective aspects of the promotional methodology, however, underscores the arbitrary selection and ranking process used by the publisher, and provides no empirical or legally sanctioned support for the results.”

“Had they taken two minutes to ask about our methodology we would’ve supplied it,” said William White, the publisher of the “Super Lawyers” magazines. “We go through an incredible amount of work to come up with this list and rely heavily upon our own detailed research of the lawyers that are nominated. To call it arbitrary is just incredible.”

White notes that the magazine describes the company’s selection process. (Here’s a more detailed version of the methodology, provided to us by the company.)

According to “Super Lawyers,” its surveys select 5% of a state’s attorney population for inclusion in its publications. In New Jersey, which has an estimated 38,000 lawyers according to the American Bar Association, that means roughly 1,900 lawyers receive the “Super Lawyer” designation.

“These self-aggrandizing titles have the potential to lead an unwary consumer to believe that the lawyers so described are, by virtue of this manufactured title, superior to their colleagues who practice in the same areas of law, says the committee’s opinion. This simplistic use of a media-generated sound bite title clearly has the capacity to materially mislead the public.”

So what’s the effect of the ruling? While the state cannot prevent New Jersey Super Lawyers from publishing there, committee chairwoman Cynthia Cappell, a lawyer at Thurber Cappell in Hackensack, N.J., warns that if “Super Lawyers” does publish next year and lawyers choose to advertise in it, “they will run afoul of the rules of professional conduct and do so at their own peril.” Adds Ms. Cappell: “The state takes seriously its role of protecting the public from deceptive legal practices.”

Charles Thall, president of “Super Lawyers” parent company Key, says it will contest the ruling. “We were not contacted by the committee in advance of this decision, and their description of our process bears no resemblance to what we actually do,” said Mr. Key in a statement. “Lawyers do not pay to be selected as Super Lawyers, nor can they pay to be editorially featured. To make such a suggestion completely misrepresents Super Lawyers, and is defamatory.”

He added in an email message to the Law Blog that he and his company have already contacted legal counsel — “New Jersey Super Lawyers, of course.”

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The Law Blog covers the legal arena’s hot cases, emerging trends and big personalities. It’s brought to you by lead writer Jacob Gershman with contributions from across The Wall Street Journal’s staff. Jacob comes here after more than half a decade covering the bare-knuckle politics of New York State. His inside-the-room reporting left him steeped in legal and regulatory issues that continue to grab headlines.

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